6139008-History-of-Money

always exceed projections. Harmful unintended consequences are the rule, not the exception. Welfare for the poor isinefficient and wasteful. The beneficiaries are rarely the poor themselves, but instead the politicians, bureaucrats, or thewealthy. The same is true of all foreign aid-- it’s nothing more than a program that steals from the poor in a rich countryand gives to the rich leaders of a poor country. Whether it’s war or welfare payments, it always means higher taxes,inflation, and debt. Whether it’s the extraction of wealth from the productive economy, the distortion of the market byinterest rate manipulation, or spending for war and welfare, it can’t happen without infringing upon personal liberty. Athome the war on poverty, terrorism, drugs, or foreign rulers provides an opportunity for authoritarians to rise to power,individuals who think nothing of violating the people’s rights to privacy and freedom of speech. They believe their role isto protect the secrecy of government, rather than protect the privacy of citizens. Unfortunately, that is the atmosphereunder which we live today, with essentially no respect for the Bill of Rights. Though great economic harm comes from aBankLords’ cartel monopoly fiat monetary system, the loss of liberty associated with it is equally troubling. Just asempires are self-limiting in terms of money and manpower, so too is a monetary system based on illusion and fraud.When the end comes we will be given an opportunity to choose once again between honest money and liberty on onehand; chaos, poverty, and authoritarianism on the other.The economic harm done by a fiat monetary system is pervasive, dangerous, and unfair. Though runaway inflation isinjurious to almost everyone, it is more insidious for certain groups. Once inflation is recognized as a tax, it becomesclear the tax is regressive: penalizing the poor and middle class more than the rich and politically privileged. Priceinflation, a consequence of inflating the money supply by the central bank, hits poor and marginal workers first andforemost. It especially penalizes savers, retirees, those on fixed incomes, and anyone who trusts government promises.Small businesses and individual enterprises suffer more than the financial elite, who borrow large sums before the moneyloses value. Those who are on the receiving end of government contracts--especially in the military industrial complexduring wartime-- receive undeserved benefits. It’s a mistake to blame high gasoline and oil prices on price gouging. If weimpose new taxes or fix prices, while ignoring monetary inflation, corporate subsidies, and excessive regulations,shortages will result. The market is the only way to determine the best price for any commodity. The law of supply anddemand cannot be repealed. The real problems arise when government planners give subsidies to energy companies andfavor one form of energy over another. Energy prices are rising for many reasons: Inflation; increased demand fromChina and India; decreased supply resulting from our invasion of Iraq; anticipated disruption of supply as we push regimechange in Iran; regulatory restrictions on gasoline production; government interference in the free market development ofalternative fuels; and subsidies to big oil such as free leases and grants for research and development.Interestingly, the cost of oil and gas is actually much higher than we pay at the retail level. Much of the DOD budget isspent protecting “our” oil supplies, and if such spending is factored in gasoline probably costs us more than $5 a gallon.The sad irony is that this military effort to secure cheap oil supplies inevitably backfires, and actually curtails supplies andboosts prices at the pump. The waste and fraud in issuing contracts to large corporations for work in Iraq only add toprice increases. When problems arise under conditions that exist today, it’s a serious error to blame the little bit of thefree market that still functions. Last summer the market worked efficiently after Katrina-- gas hit $3 a gallon, but soonsupplies increased, usage went down, and the price returned to $2. In the 1980s, market forces took oil from $40 perbarrel to $10 per barrel, and no one cried for the oil companies that went bankrupt. Today’s increases are for the reasonsmentioned above. It’s natural for labor to seek its highest wage, and businesses to strive for the greatest profit. That’sthe way the market works. When the free market is allowed to work, it’s the consumer who ultimately determines priceand quality, with labor and business accommodating consumer choices. Once this process is distorted by government,prices rise excessively, labor costs and profits are negatively affected, and problems emerge. Instead of fixing theproblem, politicians and demagogues respond by demanding windfall profits taxes and price controls, while neverquestioning how previous government interference caused the whole mess in the first place. Never let it be said thathigher oil prices and profits cause inflation; inflation of the money supply causes higher prices! Since keeping interestrates below market levels is synonymous with new money creation by the Fed, the resulting business cycle, higher cost ofliving, and job losses all can be laid at the doorstep of the Fed. This burden hits the poor the most, making Fed taxationby inflation the worst of all regressive taxes. Statistics about revenues generated by the income tax are grosslymisleading; in reality much harm is done by our welfare/warfare system supposedly designed to help the poor and tax therich. Only sound money can rectify the blatant injustice of this destructive system. The Founders understood this greatdanger, and voted overwhelmingly to reject “emitting bills of credit,” the term they used for paper or fiat money. It’s toobad the knowledge and advice of our founders, and their mandate in the Constitution, are ignored today at our great peril.The current surge in gold prices-- which reflects our dollar’s devaluation-- is warning us to pay closer attention to ourfiscal, monetary, entitlement, and foreign policy.If one endorses small government and maximum liberty, one must support commodity money. One of the strongestrestraints against unnecessary war is a gold standard. Deficit financing by government is severely restricted by soundmoney. The harmful effects of the business cycle are virtually eliminated with an honest gold standard. Saving and thriftare encouraged by a gold standard; and discouraged by paper money. Price inflation, with generally rising price levels, ischaracteristic of paper money. Reports that the consumer price index and the producer price index are rising aredistractions: the real cause of inflation is the Fed’s creation of new money. Interest rate manipulation by central bankhelps the rich, the banks, the government, and the politicians. Paper money permits the regressive inflation tax to bepassed off on the poor and the middle class. Speculative financial bubbles are characteristic of paper money-- not gold.Paper money encourages economic and political chaos, which subsequently causes a search for scapegoats rather thanblaming the central bank. Dangerous protectionist measures frequently are implemented to compensate for thedislocations caused by fiat money. Paper money, inflation, and the conditions they create contribute to the problems ofThe Hidden History Of Money & New World Order Usury Secrets Revealed at last! Page 63